Field of the Invention
The present application relates to an intermediate transfer member and an image forming method.
Description of the Related Art
A variety of printed articles are produced in smaller lots in shorter delivery times. An ink jet recording method and apparatuses using the same are expected to be a suitable technique for responding to such market demands. In the ink jet recording method, however, the ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as recording head) may be broken by contact with the recording medium, or may be degraded in ejection stability due to paper dust or the like produced from the recording medium. In order to overcome these problems, there have been devised a variety of transfer ink jet recording methods that are performed by forming an intermediate image on an intermediate transfer member with a recording head, and transferring the intermediate image to a desired recording medium to form a final image. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-225958 discloses an ink jet printer that forms an intermediate image on a drum with a dye ink and then transfers the intermediate image to a recording medium.
It is desired from the viewpoint of image transfer efficiency that the intermediate transfer member used in such a transfer ink jet recording method have a surface having a low surface free energy. Unfortunately, if an intermediate image is formed on a surface having a low surface free energy, ink dots are attracted or mixed to each other by surface tension. This can cause the degradation of image quality. There have been devised many methods of applying a treatment liquid for reducing the fluidity of ink onto the intermediate transfer member before forming an intermediate image. In these methods, the treatment liquid previously applied to the surface of the intermediate transfer member reacts with the ink to reduce the fluidity of the ink, thereby keeping the resulting intermediate image in a good condition. Even if such a technique is used, however, an intermediate transfer member having a low surface energy is likely to reject the treatment liquid or cause similar phenomena, consequently degrading the quality of the subsequently formed intermediate image. In general, this tends to occur more frequently when the intermediate transfer member has a smooth surface with a small surface roughness. Accordingly, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-078391 discloses that such a phenomenon is prevented by forming a fine uneven pattern in the surface of the intermediate transfer member.